"Political campaigns are amazing. It is not only an opportunity to turn a magnifying glass onto each of the candidates, but it's also an opportunity for us to travel with them across the country. You see different people from all walks of life. You see people there who are fanatical, wearing all of the campaign garb, the shirts, the hats, everything, and then you don't have to move very far down the line to see someone who's clearly not convinced. They aren't a fan, they're there to discover what they can about these candidates in person. It's a privilege for people to be able to sign up, go and see a person who could eventually become the political leader of the world, and listen to them, and if they're lucky, sometimes they get to ask questions and get answers directly from that person. It's an incredible privilege for us as voters in the United States. And it's a privilege for me to be able to cover it all the time."

“You arrive there with every other freshman who’s just been elected. I mean, you have an orientation period, and you look around and think, ‘Oh my gosh, how in the world did I get here?’ You never get tired of working at the Capitol. Even when you're going to do something relatively mundane, or going to get yelled at by your Speaker because you're not going to vote for their bill, you're mindful of the fact that going up those winding steps to the Speaker's office, David Crockett walked these steps the day he left the Capitol and came to Texas. So it does stick with you, all of the history in that building. When President Bush was President, he did engage members of Congress, and there would be times it was a spur-of-the-moment, come-have-a-non-alcoholic-beer on the Truman Balcony, and he'd meet with a bipartisan group of House members. I would arrive in Washington, and my staff would say, ‘You've got a meeting in the White House this evening.’ And he personally would walk you through, ‘Here's the Lincoln Bedroom, here's the desk where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.’ It was really quite striking.”

“Hiking two of the country’s national scenic trails took me on foot through 17 states and 13 national parks. It immersed me in the history of the East Coast, the settlement of the Appalachian Mountains and the Civil War, as well as the country’s westward expansion with the Gold Rush and the role mules played in developing that part of the country. It exposed me to the grandeur of our nation’s diverse natural beauty and fauna through the spring, summer and fall, from the deserts of Southern California to the mountain ranges of the Blue Ridge, Appalachia, Sierra Nevada and Cascades. It also gave me an appreciation of the wonderful people who populate both coasts, as their openness, volunteering and hospitality are what allow these long hikes to be possible. I truly feel lucky to have experienced so much of our country in such a unique way."

“I was 5 years old and lived in Waco when President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the city to give the commencement speech at Baylor University. My mother took me down to stand on Waco Drive as the president rode past in an open-air automobile so that he could greet the crowds. As young as I was, I remember waving as he passed us. Sometime after his visit, my mother told me that President Eisenhower was ill. She remembers that I insisted on sending the president a get-well card. I received a note from the White House with the presidential seal thanking me for the card. I still have it today. This is a treasured memory of growing up in the 1950s after World War II.”